Students hear from former New Trier pitcher who went from bench to MLB draft

Ben Klimesh of Evanston and Justin Wells of Glencoe are both 2008 graduates of New Trier Township High School.

They were teammates on the Trevian baseball squad, friends since sixth grade, and were together again Dec. 15. At the invitation of Wells, a teaching assistant at the Northbrook-based North Shore Academy Elementary, Klimesh spoke to students there about his trip from the bench on New Trier's team to the minor leagues.

Klimesh, 25, a right-handed pitcher raised in Wilmette, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 15th round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft.

"I was never really good at baseball," Klimesh said to nearly 50 NSAE students. "I was not the best on the team and I sat on the bench a lot."

He was conference pitcher of the year twice and a first team All-American as a college senior. After the 2012 draft, Klimesh played for minor league clubs in Billings, Mont., Bakersfield, Calif. and Pensacola, Fla. In 2015, he played AA baseball in Florida and AAA in Louisville, Ky. And in April, he said he got the chance to travel with the entire Reds franchise to Montreal for an exhibition series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

"I still find myself chasing my dream," said Klimesh, who has wanted to be a baseball player since early childhood.

"He just needs his shot" at the major leagues, Wells said..

Klimesh is training in the off-season and spending the holidays with his parents, Lyle and Mary Kay Klimesh of Evanston, and his sister, Alison Patterson, a Colorado doctor.

"Ben's story embodies the cornerstones of our community at NSAE as grit, growth mindset and gratitude," said Doug Bolton, the principal of North Shore Academy. "His story is one that we can all learn from and we are excited to watch as his story unfolds, hopefully all the way to the major leagues."

Thomas Tilson, 11, a NSAE fifth-grader from Winnetka, said he enjoyed the presentation.

"I will try to remember that you don't just build a wall all at once, you build it brick by brick," Thomas said.

A version of this article appeared in print on December 22, 2015, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "From the bench to MLB draft - Former New Trier pitcher shares his trip to big leagues with area students" —
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